Posted by Joshua on Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Ali Ferzat, Syria’s most loved cartoonist was beaten by mukhabarat and thrown out of a car. His most recent cartoon was of Qaddafi stopping in his Jeed to pick up Bashar al-Assad, who was hitching a ride. The cartoon and Ali’s site is no longer available on the internet….

Two opposing views of Syria’s economy. One claims Syria can tough out the economic hit for quite a bit longer. The other, by Carnegie, says no. Master Card in Syria is down. More top Syrians are sanctioned by the EU. Gulf Sands, the oil company partly owned by Rami Makhlouf is hit with more troubles and the West is chiseling away at the Syrian economy.

Gulf countries, in an apparent reversal of position, seem to be distancing themselves from the US effort to strangle Assad’s regime. Saudi arrested anti-Assad demonstrators and Qatar has backed away from its anti-Syria diplomacy as its leader heads for a visit to Iran.

Syria’s Opposition woes are cataloged by Reuters. Here is a photo of Ali Ferzat.

The U.N. Security Council should use dialogue to persuade Syria to end its violent crackdown on protesters, Russia’s envoy said Wednesday, hinting he may veto a draft resolution being circulated to impose an arms embargo and other measures on President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters outside council chambers that instead of punishing Syria, the council should use dialogue and diplomacy to help end the violence.

Churkin said he had registered his country’s opposition on Wednesday to the sanctions proposed by Britain and supported by France, Germany, Portugal and the United States.

The proposal is expected to come up for a vote as early as this week and Russia is among five permanent council members empowered to veto it. Churkin said such sanctions could “encourage further confrontation” and “we need to instead encourage dialogue.”

Asked whether he would register a veto, Churkin said: “I think you can make your conclusion from my words.”

The resolution could also face possible opposition from other council members, including veto-wielding China.

Kay Granger tells ‘Post’ that level of Muslim Brotherhood involvement in new Egyptian government will impact US assistance. Washington’s $2 billion in annual aid to Egypt will be cut off if Cairo backs out of the peace treaty with Israel, Congresswoman Kay Granger – whose job as chairwoman of the US House appropriations foreign operations subcommittee means she literally writes America’s annual foreign aid bill – told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. more…

In response to these sanctions MasterCard will institute a block of all transactions originating in Syria as of 20 August 2011. This block will be in effect until further notice. A notification will be sent in the event that the block is removed.

(Reuters) – Syrian opposition figures who met in Istanbul to form a broad-based council to represent the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that they needed more time to consult with activists inside Syria on its composition.

The delay indicates the difficulty in uniting an opposition decimated by decades of Assad family repression, and integrating a generation of younger activists playing a direct role on the ground in street protests facing the brunt of military assaults.

“We need two more weeks to coordinate with the opposition on the inside. All currents need to be represented,” Adib al-Shishakly, whose grandfather was an early president of Syria after independence from France in 1946.

Encouraged by international support for their cause, leading opposition figures held lengthy discussions in Istanbul this week to nominate a council that could help with a transition of power if Assad were to be toppled by the five-month uprising against his rule.

Most delegates had left but a core group remained to continue discussions with opposition figures inside Syria, Shishakly said by phone.

Attendees at the conference included Moulhem Droubi, a high-level member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood; Sheikh Muteih al-Butain, a leader of the street protests in Deraa that helped ignite the uprising; former political prisoner Khaled al-Haj Saleh, scion of a leftist political family; and writer Hazem Nahar, who was imprisoned during the uprising and managed to leave Syria.

DIFFERENCES PERSIST

Another delegate said more work was needed to convince skeptical activists inside Syria how the proposed council would further the cause of the uprising and bridge differences over the posts assigned to different groups and how different factions should be represented.

“I think a consensus is developing that a council is needed and its credibility will be boosted by as much support from the inside,” said the young delegate, who recently fled Syria and did not wish to be identified.

A statement by the participants said the proposed council was designed to “be part of a national safety net needed to guarantee civic peace and achieve broad consensus about the process of transition.”

“We affirm the principle of non-violent revolution. The absence of a unified political forum along the revolution … is a dangerous shortcoming of Syria’s march toward a civic democratic state,” the declaration said.

But Ammar Qurabi, a member of a consultative committee that emerged from an earlier opposition conference in the Turkish city of Antalya, said in a statement the group had withdrawn from the Istanbul talks because the meeting did not build on earlier efforts to unite the opposition.

Western governments, which have stepped up sanctions on Assad in reaction to his crackdown on protesters, have privately expressed frustration with opposition’s lack of unity, diplomats say.

At a meeting with anti-Assad Syrian activists in Washington this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged them to work toward a “unified vision” for Syria.

The proposed council aims to speak for dissidents in exile, who are playing a key role in supporting the uprising financially, and activists on the ground.

A number of activists are wary about establishing a linear opposition structure, saying it would make it an easier target for assassinations and arrests by Assad’s forces.

Dissident writer Michel Kilo, a former political prisoner who belongs to an elder generation of dissidents said this week that a transitional council would be of little value before Assad actually falls from power.

Turkmens in Syria have been sidelined by the opposition groups who recently formed a national council to represent the uprising in the Arab republic, community representatives have said while also criticizing Turkey for neglecting their plight.

Turkmens have been suppressed by the regime of President of Bashar al-Assad for many years, yet they were not invited to recent opposition meetings in Istanbul, said Ali Öztürkmen, a representative of the community, adding that he could only attend as an “observer” because they became aware of the meetings at the last minute.

Although official numbers indicate there are between 900,000 and 1.5 million Turkmens in Syria, Öztürkmen said there were actually close to 3 million Turkmens in Syria as many of them, like a large number of Syrian Kurds, had been deprived of citizenship by the Syrian regime.

“The Turkish government is also not showing any interest in Turkmens in Syria,” he said.

Refuting the claims, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said the Turkish government had always showed interest in all its kin and living outside Turkey.

The official said the government’s first priority was the integration of these groups in the society in which they live; in cases like Syria, however, the priority is to seek the rights of these groups if there is evidence that they have been treated unjustly, the official….

DAMASCUS: The Syrian economy, hit hard by five months of anti-government protests, could survive unrest and sanctions into next year but experts and officials warn of a sharp deterioration afterward.

The protests, which have rocked much of the country since mid-March, have dramatically slowed economic activity, with analysts predicting negative economic growth in 2011 as a result of a decline in tourism and investment.

“During the first three months of the revolt, everything stopped because consumers were stunned,” said Abdul Ghani Attar, vice president of Attar Group, a Syrian conglomerate with investments in hotels, finance, pharmaceuticals and office equipment.

“Since June, economic activity has resumed, but is down about 40 percent from a year ago.”

“For the moment, the private sector, which represents 70 percent of GDP, has survived, but if the situation does not improve next year, the economy will really suffer. There is a risk of layoffs,” the 32-year-old continued.

Even now, Syria’s economic indicators paint a grim picture.

The Washington-based International Institute of Finance predicts the country’s economy will contract by 3 percent, and tourism, which accounts for 12 percent of GDP and 11 percent of employment, is sharply down.

The overall number of investment projects, meanwhile, are down 47.84 percent in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, according to official figures.

To make matters worse, the population is now only buying the bare necessities because of a fear of the unknown, according to Naji Shawi, who heads the Shawi Group.

The turnover of the Shawi Group, which is involved in food, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and finance, is down between five and 10 percent compared to last year, he said.

“Until now, the business sector is surviving, but if this crisis continues for more than six months, there will be problems,” he said.

Syria’s main stock market has plunged 40 percent since mid-March and consumption is markedly lower, with clothing and electrical stores in Damascus lying bare.

The country imported just 2,000 cars in May, against 20,000 in March, and overall imports have halved compared to last year, according to a European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

By contrast, building materials are booming because, with police occupied with protests, unsupervised construction is on the rise. Street vendors are also doing well for similar reasons.

So far, the economic decline has not spread to the currency, as the Syrian pound is down just 8 percent against the U.S. dollar since March.

Syrian central bank Governor Adib Mayalheh last week took increased steps to limit foreign exchange transactions, and the country still has around $17 billion in reserves.

“They are probably lower now but in all cases we have no clear data on that,” said Jihad Yazigi, editor of the Syria Report economic newsletter.

“Also, at least half of the budget goes to investment expenses, so the government could very well decide to skip most investment expenses [actually it has already partly done so] and use that for current expenses, i.e. salaries, running overhead,” he added in an emailed response to questions.

Syria’s 2011 budget amounted to $16.7 billion, 43.4 percent of which was dedicated to investment.

According to Shawi, Mayalheh told him that “during the good times, it [the central bank] held $5 billion to manage the fluctuation of the Syrian pound, and until now, it has injected $2 billion to support the currency.”

The European diplomat, meanwhile, claimed that Iran had recently provided $6 billion to help Damascus manage the currency, but could provide no proof.

“The situation has deteriorated, but it is not desperate,” said Lahcen Achy, a Syria specialist at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “The regime can survive this for a long time.”

Achy added: “The economy will not bring down the regime and if it did, it would take a long time. Experience shows that regimes can survive embargos because they can smuggle in goods and money via Turkey and Lebanon.”

“In any case, if he has to make a choice, the security forces will be the last to experience any cuts.”

Shawi concurred, noting that “the West relies on the economic weapon, but one can always adapt. Look at Iraq in the past. Sanctions are good for headlines, but they hurt the people, especially the poor, never the regime.”

A potential European oil embargo could have an impact, however, as 95 percent of Syria’s oil exports go to Europe, amounting to a third of the country’s revenue.

In the absence of a U.N.-backed ban, however, Damascus could still sell its crude to non-European countries.

In any case, according to an economic expert based in Damascus who did not want to be identified, “the 11th five-year plan which called for investment of $100 billion, half of which was to come from the private sector, is now out the window.”

Popular protests in Syria over the last five months have caused a notable decline in the country’s economic indicators. Gross domestic product is expected to contract by 5% for the current year, after International Monetary Fund estimates had originally predicted 3% growth before the protests erupted.

The budget deficit has increased due to expanded social expenditure and shrinking tax revenues. The economic and security situation is expected to deteriorate further as the unrest continues to grow. The international community may resort to additional sanctions affecting the private companies and government institutions that form the backbone of the Syrian economy. This could throw the country into an unprecedented economic and fiscal crisis.

Tourism, which accounts for about 12% of Syria’s GDP and directly contributes more than 10% of total employment, is one of the economic sectors most damaged since the protests began. Over the last three years, Syria has spent huge sums to increase its ability to receive Arab and foreign tourists and improve the quality of services provided to them. Tourist numbers rose from 6 million visitors in 2008 to 8.5 million in 2010, an increase of more than 40%. This activity supplied Syria with about $8 billion of hard currency over the same period.

Although little detailed data exist on the effect of the current social unrest on tourist numbers, most hotels are almost empty now that international tourism trip organizers have stopped proposing Syria as a destination, and most Arab embassies have issued statements urging their citizens to refrain from visiting Syria until further notice.

Recurrent unrest in various Syrian provinces has also driven a number of foreign investors to review their investment programs. Several Persian Gulf and foreign companies have announced plans to stop or cancel huge projects due to the uncertainty that overshadows Syria’s economic future. Some reports indicate that investments are being redirected — probably to Jordan, especially now that it may soon join the Gulf Cooperation Council.

This drop in tourism and the stoppage of large investment projects is worsening the living conditions of many Syrian families. Some of them will see their incomes fall, while others will join the unemployment lines.

To soften the hardship of this crisis and contain popular anger, the Syrian government has increased government salaries and fuel subsidies and reduced taxes on food. In the first few days after the protests started, Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, issued a decree increasing monthly salaries and wages by 1,500 Syrian lira ($30), in addition to a 30% increase for monthly salaries under 10,000 lira ($200) and a 20% increase for salaries at or above 10,000 lira. The government also reduced fuel prices by 25% to aid citizens’ purchasing power and counter negative effects of the inflationary pressures accompanying the protest wave.

The cost of these measures, which were not anticipated in this year’s fiscal law, is estimated at more than 2% of GDP. This means the budget deficit will expand and could surpass 8% of GDP unless tax revenues — and economic activity — rise.

The deteriorating budget situation raises questions about the government’s ability to cover the deficit gap without resorting to foreign loans. Bank deposits have dropped due to an increase in withdrawals after the protests began. To remedy this situation, the central bank has raised interest rates on lira deposits by two points to stimulate savings and stop the depletion of bank deposits. Although this measure may help improve liquidity in the banking sector, it is causing an increase in the cost of funding, especially for the governmental sector, which receives nearly 55% of bank loans.

The Syrian lira has also recorded a drop in its value versus the dollar, falling up to 15% at times. There has also been an increase in currency trading in the unregulated (black) market. The Syrian central bank announced the insurance of foreign currency for individuals and companies as needed in an effort to stop the lira’s devaluation and black market activity.

It is possible that the monetary authorities’ intervention to reduce pressures on the lira could exhaust a significant portion of the central bank’s hard currency reserve. Such fears are reinforced by the drop in tourism revenues and foreign investment, and they may have been the motive behind the central bank’s imposition of a 0.7% charge on dollar cash withdrawals from personal accounts. At the beginning of 2011, foreign exchange reserves were estimated at $17 billion. Under normal conditions, this would be enough to fund seven months of imports.

Implementing credible political and economic reforms was a genuine option in the hands of the regime. Harsh repression and excessive use of force against people killed that option. Today, Syria is facing critical socioeconomic challenges that could lead to an increase in the unrest’s human and financial costs, worsening living conditions for broad sections of the population. This will only further fuel popular anger and likely lead to the regime’s collapse.

* What impact will the call by the United States and major European powers for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down–followed by heightened U.S. and EU sanctions–have on Syria-Iran relations?

They will push Syria even more into the arms of Iran. Syria is being gradually cut off from Western finances and relationships. So if the regime is going to survive, it will want to look east to Iran and perhaps China. Syria seems to also be improving its relationship with Iraq.

* Why has Iraq opted to align with Syria and Iran in backing Assad?

It is not entirely clear. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki does not state motivations. But it appears that two things are going on. There is a domestic reason; Maliki is worried about Bashar al Assad being overthrown. Assad belongs to the minority Shiite sect of Alawites. Many of Assad’s opponents are Sunnis- some of whom are Sunni fundamentalists. And some of those are the sort of people who were supporting the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Maliki does not want them to come to power in Damascus and become his neighbors.

Another consideration that has been suggested is that Maliki owes his position as prime minister in this round [of elections held in 2010] to the support of Iran for coalition building of the Iraq Shiites. So he may be paying back a debt.

* Is this a new de facto alliance?

There seems to be a growing Tehran-Baghdad-Damascus axis for certain purposes. Iraq is a very complex place and it still is, in odd ways, an American ally. Though in this particular instance, Baghdad is siding with Iran and Syria against the stated U.S. position. The alliance appears to be over sectarianism and regional politics. There is nothing that Syria can do for Iraq, economically. Syria is potentially a trading partner but there is no economic carrot that Syria can offer Iraq. It is actually the other way around. According to one report-that Maliki has denied-the Iranians had pressured the Iraqi government to donate $ 10 billion to Syria to help Damascus get through its current crisis. The alliance is very much about who you will like to have in the capital of your neighbor.

* What are the factors behind the support of Iran and Iraq for Syria?

…. Iraq is not similarly isolated but it is in some ways being pushed into a Shiite set of alliances, both by the sectarian undertones to the uprising in Syria and by events in Bahrain, where the Shiite majority demanded the Sunni monarchy become a constitutional monarchy. [But the Shiites] were crushed with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who were essentially acting as Sunni powers in the Gulf. This crushing of Bahrain’s democracy movement by Sunni powers provoked large demonstrations in Iraq and angered a lot of Iraqi Shiites. Of course, Maliki is both the prime minister of Iraq and the main political leader of the Iraqi Shiites. .

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007. But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers — still stinging over “the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction” — expressed misgivings.

“I again made the case for U.S. military action against the reactor,” Mr. Cheney wrote about a meeting on the issue. “But I was a lone voice. After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.”….

Saudi security forces have arrested 164 Syrian expatriates who staged a rally in Riyadh in support of the five-month uprising in their homeland against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian human rights organisation said.

Syrians were surprised by Qatar’s stance calling for Assad to reform and stop the violence, a drawback from their previous positions. This announcement precedes the prince of Qatar’s visit to Iran, to include extensive talks covering Iran’s relationship with the GCC.

BAGHDAD — The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Sunday that the U.S. maintains stronger relations with Iraq than does Iran, despite recent media reports that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s statements about the unrest in Syria were soft and indicated a philosophical shift toward Iran.

Comments (43)

1. Aboudsaid:

“Saudi arrested anti-Assad demonstrators ”

I’ve already explained this one after I talked with a relative in Jeddah. The Syrians were allowed one demonstration on the day of King Abdullah’s announcement. Some Syrians went out to another demonstration. They were taken away and then released.

Not one Gulf country has sent its ambassador back to Damascus. The coverage on Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera hasn’t changed either.

“Syrians were surprised by Qatar’s stance calling for Assad to reform and stop the violence, a drawback from their previous positions. This announcement precedes the prince of Qatar’s visit to Iran, to include extensive talks covering Iran’s relationship with the GCC”

I’ve put this phrase in Google. I cannot find it anywhere except from the hit on this website. The Telegraph link makes no mention of this paragraph.

What were Qatar’s statements before, that Landis interprets this as being a change in the stance of the Gulf countries? Did they call for junior to step down? Not that I heard.

No Arab country has, but the ones that have spoken out on Syria have critized the regime’s heavy handedness and call for reforms (which would be the regime’s end in any case)

Also, Landis mis-characterizes the Reuters report on the Istanbul conference as a “list of woes”. I expected a long list of difficult problems and impossible stances. All I saw was the usual discussions and difference that accompany any great undertaking.

“We need two more weeks to coordinate with the opposition on the inside. All currents need to be represented,” Adib al-Shishakly”

Frankly this is reassuring, and doesn’t seem like a problem to me. The menhebaks are so desperate for any signs of comfort, that they gloat when the opposition doesn’t come to an instant agreement. How much discussion did the US declaration of independence take? Or did the Founding Fathers reach an agreement overnight?

I am a big fan of Ali Farzat and he is a remarkable artist. Targeting every Syrian with a brain is a testimony of the moral bankruptcy of this brutal regime. I do not agree with everything the man said but let me make it clear here that Farzat’s shoe is more noble than any corrupt head of those cowards who attacked him or ordered that assault.

What excuse is there for attacking Ferzat and breaking his hand? is that the so called reformers Putin and China want us to give more time? And all the ppl here shouting consiracy and muslim brothers and salafists while ignoring the slaughter house Bashar turned Syria into, Did ppl in Meedan protest over rainfalling, and what about the swiss guy, Gaetan Vanny, is he a salafist as well? and will the regime supporter the “intellectual” “secular” Ibrahin Taleb make a fatwa against Switzerland like Qaddafi did before, cause seriously…it could happen: http://bit.ly/nGHvE1

“This most gifted of cartoonist, `Ali Farzat, was kidnapped by armed goons (Shabbihah) of the Syrian regime and severely beaten. What do you call a lousy regime that is terrified of a talented cartoonist?

I have written extensively on this blog about this brilliant cartoonist. I recommended a book published in the US containing some of his work. I always credit Lisa Wedeen of the University of Chicago for introducing me to his work back in 1993. He has a unique style and gifts. During the short-lived, “Damascus Spring”, he produced a publication “Dumari”. It did not last. I still possess some of its issues. Farzat has a website where some of work is displayed but it is now blocked.

This is Farzat in his hospital bed. I woke up to the news and was most distressed. The Ba`th Party in its history produced no talents and gifts: so I understand why they want to smash gifts and arts and talents. This is a crucial moment for wavering progressive: a stance against the repressive regime is now badly needed.

No argument can be made in support of the regime. And despite is verbal trickery, it does not fight Israel either. It hides under the feet of Hizbullah hoping to reap the rewards of their fighting skills against Israel.

This is a regime that smashes hopes and dreams. `Ali Farzat? One of the best talents in Syria and the region? Armed goons of the regime dare to damage his precious hands?? Which side are you on? Ali Farzat or Bashshar Al-Asad?”

#4 Dear Norman,You said:
“Hsyrian, The answer is 5000 and if you disagree then prove it ”

The burden of proof is on you.
Otherwise, I would claim the figure to be zero!
Can you cite a single MB who was indicted by independent, civil justice system?

Jr has been claiming the presence of thousands of Salafis and MB’s in this uprising!
He has not produced a single case that would stand the scrutingy of an independent judicial investigation!

I would further claim that if any, murders committed against Asad senior regime officials, advisors and supporters to had been acts of individual and tribal revenge against the unabashed bruital atrocities committed by Papa and the bandits.

The regime, represented by Jr, his gang, and survivors of his papa gang shall be invited to bring their evidence against every single Syrian whom they convicted and executed, imprsoned, tortured, or displaced.
Their evidence shall be scrutinised in a civil, independent court of justice, in the presence of human rights offcials.
If they could not, and they shall not, support their claims, innocent victims record shall be cleared, their families compensated, and the perpetrators tried and convicted.

Vice versa, every citizen shall be invited to bring their incriminating evidence against Asad regime and benefactors.

“Ali Ferzat, Syria’s most loved cartoonist was beaten by mukhabarat and thrown out of a car. His most recent cartoon was of Qaddafi stopping in his Jeed(JEEP) to pick up Bashar al-Assad, who was hitching a ride.”

cartoonists are silent political activists,their Aim/goal is to paint with a wide brush the Cross Section of Social Conscience
I have not seen the comical illustration of qaddafi in his golf cart waiting on Assad to go shopping.
MR Ferzat.should’ve been more OBJECTIVE and less provocative!! like depicting Qaddafi driving a buss with the entire arab presidents,kings,shieks and what have you going to lala land for good.
I,m for free speech,unfortunately islamic arab culture is violent and teaches intolerance,look at the arab islamic border lines color,I see bloody RED,been like that for the past 1450 years,elitist jerks blame others for their sad state of affairs.
we need enthusiastic secular ghazals to rectify the political 800 pound islamic gorilla…..people are tired of the gorillas poop, diarrhea and their animalistic mental droppings

just a thought, what if who ever harmed ali farzat were not mukhabarat or shabiha, what if it’s someone trying to inflame the situation more, there are people getting paid to think of ways to make matter worse, the u.s did that in iran in the 1950, again this is just a thought, i think that if the gov wanted to harm mr farzat they could throw him in prison and that will be a lot easier than beating him like that

So this fake secular thinks that Ali Ferzat got what he deserved. Numerous newspapers and TV stations around the world take a certain slant or stand, but only in Syria do cartoonists get beaten up and left on the side of a road.

So, fake secularist, is al-Dunya objective? Am I allowed to go beat up some reporter from that station? Is Syrian TV objective? Is Al-Manar objective? Is that other theocracy, the Iranian media, objective oh ye fake secularist who takes Ayatollah hand outs?

@Abbas who else can kidnap a man in the middle of Damascus with total impunity? And what do you mean inflame the situation more? Do you suppose the opposition is going to run out of regime atrocities anytime soon? Do you suppose junior tomorrow will have a Road to Damascus moment and turn all enlightened?

Ali Ferzat knew who kidnapped him. He didn’t say “unknown gunmen”, he clearly said it was shabeha.

What is an insult law?
In more than 100 of the world’s states, journalists can be imprisoned for “insulting” government ofﬁcials and institutions. Regardless of what the laws are called or how they are worded, the result is the same: They are used to stiﬂe and punish political discussion and dissent, editorial comment and criticism, satire and even news that the government would rather hide from the public.
Insult laws are still on the books in many of Western Europe’s oldest democracies as well as in the world’s most authoritarian regimes. Many countries with constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of expression and opinion nonetheless continue to enforce laws that punish criticism of government.
…..
GERMANY
……
Laws
Criminal Code, Sect. 90: “(1) Whoever publicly, in a meeting or by the distribution of writings, defames the Federal President shall be punished by three months to ﬁve years imprisonment. (2) In less serious cases, the court, in its discretion, may reduce the punishment unless the prerequisites of Sect. 187a (see below) have been met. (3) If the crime amounts to a criminal libel (Sect. 187), or if the perpetrator intended to lend his support to efforts directed against the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany or its constitutional principles, the punishment shall be six months to ﬁve years. (4) The crime shall be prosecuted only with the authorization of the Federal President.”

Sect. 90a: “(1) Whoever publicly, in a meeting or by the distribution of writings: 1)insults or maliciously maligns the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its Länder (states) or its constitutional order or 2) defames the colors, the ﬂag, the coat of arms or the anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its Länder shall be punished by up to three years imprisonment or a ﬁne. . . . (3) If the perpetrator intended to lend his support to efforts directed against the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany or its constitutional principles, the punishment shall be up to ﬁve years imprisonment or a ﬁne.”

GREECE

Art. 168(2): “One who attacks the honor of the President of the Republic or one exercising the power of the President of the Republic, or defames him publicly or in his presence, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than three months.” There is a six-month statute of limitations on prosecutions.

ITALY
Laws
1930 Criminal Code (amended 1944, 1947, 1955), Art. 278: “Offenses to the honor and the prestige of the President of the Republic. Whoever offends the honor or the prestige of the President of the Republic shall be punished with imprisonment from one to ﬁve
years.” The 1929 Concordat with the Vatican extends that same protection to the Pope.

Art. 290: “Offenses to the honor of the Republic, the constitutional institutions and the Armed Forces. Whoever publicly insults the Republic, one or both of the legislative assemblies, the government, the Constitutional Court or the magistrature shall be punished with imprisonment for six months to three years. The same sanctions are applied to whoever publicly offends the Armed Forces or the forces of liberation.”

Let us assume for a moment that the government and security services are being framed and that people in the opposition did this to inflame the situation as you said. Would it not make sense for Bashar or a senior member of the leadership to visit the man at his hospital bed and assure him that the authorities will do everything in their power to find and arrest who those who were responsible?

@16 I’d like to see some practical applications of these laws. When was the last time a German cartoonist was jailed for mocking the president? When was the last time an Italian citizen was put on trial for causing offense to the honor and prestige of the president?

In fact, how old are these laws? The introduction to your document says that the French insult laws date back to 1881. The British contempt of Parliament law hasn’t been used since 1900, according to the same document.

A few weeks ago a not very bright menhebak spammed this forum with posts regarding the penalty for threatening the US President’s life. It was pointed out again and again, that US president’s have been impeached for less than a tenth of what junior has done.

With all the heart breaking stories of the crimes committed against the Syrian people, I am hoping that a brilliant film director such as Micheal Moore or even better the Iranian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf or others think of a documentary to etch this into the psych of all Syrian generations to come.

A documentary that tell the 40 years story of the Syrian oppression with a background of melancholic music (maqam Kurd). Imagine scenes of Daraa school children being tortured, the body trails on the street, the youth retrieving dead bodies with metal bars for fear of being shot, footage of Shabeeha and Ali Abbas stepping on people in Bayda, beating of the elderly, group beating of Hamwi youth to clinical brain death, beating dead corpses in Daraa, cutting the throat out of Ibrahim Qashush, breaking the hands of Ali Ferzat, tormenting the parents of jandali, torturing Hamza al Khateeb, etc, etc. And despite all of this, the resolve and the determination of the Syrian people to achieve their freedom.

Visa, other cards not valid under Syria sanctions
By ALBERT AJI
Associated Press
Visa and MasterCard credit cards are no longer valid in Syria under new U.S. sanctions targeting Damascus because of its deadly crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising, officials said Thursday.

The Treasury Department this month added the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and its Lebanon-based subsidiary to its sanctions list, citing their links to human rights abuses and to illegal weapons trade with North Korea. The action freezes any assets the firms have in U.S. jurisdictions and bans Americans from doing business with them.

In a statement faxed to the AP, the state-run Commercial Bank of Syria said the victims of the sanctions would be Syrian citizens and foreign tourists who will be “obliged to deal in cash with all its undesirable problems.”

The credit card companies confirmed their cards are no longer valid in Syria.

“Visa is required by law to comply with the U.S. Department of the Treasury financial sanctions against Syria,” the company said. “As a result, Visa has suspended its payment card activity in Syria under the recently expanded sanctions.”

The ban on using the cards is part of a push to pressure the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, further isolating the nation in hopes that an economic squeeze will force the Damascus government to reconsider its policies.

But analysts say the sanctions – and moves like banning the use of the credit cards – may not have much immediate economic impact because the U.S. already severely limits trade and economic ties with Syria. the country’s main trade partners were its Arab neighbors, and pressure from them is needed for the sanctions to have added power.

“This will be the key point for Syria … if Arabs stop trading with” the country, said Said Hirsh, Mideast economist with the London-based Capital Economics. He said 60 percent of Syrian exports go to Arab countries. “It’s the Arabs that will be able to cripple (Assad’s regime) more than the international sanctions.”

The move to ban the credit cards, which Syrian banks began issuing in 2005 for local customers, may also affect the country’s influential merchant class – a wealthy cadre of businessmen whose support, or at least lack of outright opposition, is seen as key to Assad’s hold on power.

George Badi, a sales manager at the Dedeman Hotel in Damascus, said the measure will hurt business and wipe out many Internet-based reservations.

“It seems that the U.S. is slapping sanctions on the entire Syrian people not only the Syrian regime,” he said.

“So, fake secularist, is al-Dunya objective? Am I allowed to go beat up some reporter from that station?”

My reply to this narcissist islamic creature egomaniac is you people are doing worse than beating Innocent people up,your brothers are slitting throats with islamic knives then dumping them in the river while chanting allllllah akbar,sealed and aproved by the virgins maker and his helper muhamad

Beating anybody for their opinions or cartoons is unacceptable.
It does not make sense for the regime to beat Farzat, it is stupid.
The revolutionists are not going to run out of atrocities, they fabricate good number of them, here is a video that is suppose to happen in the future or 2 days from now

@gus,
no, it was the regime, and here why i think so.
he was abducted in the omayad square, which is host to the national tv station, the national library, the national theater and the airforce command, rami makhouf’s house, the sheraton hotel. the places is littered with republican guards, and military police.
during 5 am , visibility is well in damascus, yes its not broad day light, but some figure of authority could easily spot them. this isn’t the first time a beating by regime thugs happened in omayad square( my friends got a beating there) and its also not the first time the regime locks up an intellectual.
furthermore supporters of besho are celebrating his beating and wondering why they didnt kill him. yea go check it out on his facebook page.
here are some examples:

Artist Ferzat must consider himself luckier than the late journalist Salim lawzi.
The latter had his right hand amputated and then killed and dumped for writing against Papa Asad intervention in lebannon!

In all the examples that you mentioned that president do not hold executive power. In all these countries (Greece, Italy and Germany), the executive power is in the hand of the PM or the Chancellor. All theses democracies are parliamentary democracies and the presidents are honorary figures. What do you think about changing Syria to a parliamentary democracy? If you agree, I would support to keep Bashar in his office till the end of his presidency.

Six months ago, I would have agreed with you. I even would have voted for master bashar if he had implemented a couple of real reforms. Now, he is a criminal in my eyes and needs to be prosecuted and tried in a court of law. How could you look in the eyes of any of the parents, sisters, brothers, children or wives and tell them your hero died to make master basher president. He and the rest of gang need to go and never ever comeback. The Syrians had enough of this mafia.

– Khaled Ibn AlWaleed phalanges engaged with Asad forces in Talbeeseh Homs, in defence of attacked civilians
– FSA engaged Asad forces in defence of peaceful civilian demonstrators across the country, particularly in Homs.
– We emphasize the fallacy of the regime claim of armed civilian infiltrators
– We condemn the barbaric killing of five of our members by burn-causing weapons in Rastan and hold Asad and forces for the well being of officer Ya3rob Taqtaq.
– We emphasize the peaceful nature of the Syrian revolution and the sanctity of the lives of civilians.
– The FSA have been organised into southern, Middle, Eastern, and Northern sectors, each with a designated spokesman officer, in order to provide help and protection to civilians.
– We urge ground and exile activists to unite.
– While we support the enforcement of a no fly zone over Syria, we are against foreign military intervention.
– We urge our brethren in the Armed forces to abstain from attacking civilians and join FSA ranks.
Long live Free Syria
Victory for Free Syrian nation.
___________________________________________________________________
Personal thought!
I wonder what kind of burn-causing weapon was used against the FSA group in rastan!
FSA spokesman need to provide more details about the attack and the burning weapons used by Jr’s Army, whether conventional or chemical!

My reply to this narcissist islamic creature egomaniac is you people are doing worse than beating Innocent people up,your brothers are slitting throats with islamic knives then dumping them in the river while chanting allllllah akbar,sealed and aproved by the virgins maker and his helper muhamad”

Menhebek thug, your regime has also slit throats and slaughtered tens of thousands, and you didn’t blink an eye.